U.S. looking to develop submarine/airplane hybrid

There’s been a lot of speculation lately as to whether or not the new James Bond movie, ‘Quantum of Solace,’ is a sci-fi flick. To that, I ask, “Isn’t every James Bond movie a sci-fi flick?” Maybe he never fights aliens or monsters, but those gadgets he uses certainly don’t exist in the realm of reality. At least, they don’t when they’re introduced on the big screen. By the time some of the more classic Bond films made it to DVD, though, a few of Q’s toys have found their way into retail shelves and covert black-ops arsenals. Now, the U.S. government is looking to make yet another unrealistic part of the Bond universe into a spy’s most elaborate fantasy.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is reportedly working on creating an 8-man submarine that is also able to fly. If you’re interested in creating one, the specifications are as follows:

must be able to transport eight men and their equipment 1,150 miles (1,850km) by air, 115m (185km) by sea or 14m (22km) underwater – or a combination of the three – in less than eight hours, and then wait for up to three days to pick them up again.

The government agency admitted that they have been working on such a craft, but they’ve hit a few walls and are looking to the public at large for their ideas. Any and everybody is welcome to submit their design, though there’s not much mention of how to do so. I suppose if you’re in the business of creating flying submarines, though, you already have DARPA on speed-dial.